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Monday, October 27, 2014

Buddha on Two Views

“Monks, there are these two views: the view of being and the view of
non-being. Any recluses or priests who rely on the view of being, adopt the
view of being, accept the view of being, are opposed to the view of non-being.
Any recluses or priests who rely on the view of non-being, adopt the view of
non-being, accept the view of non-being, are opposed to the view of being.

"Any
recluses or priests who do not understand as they actually are the origin, the
disappearance, the gratification, the danger and the escape in the case of
these two views are affected by lust, affected by hate, affected by delusion,
affected by craving, affected by clinging, without vision, given to favoring
and opposing, and they delight in and enjoy proliferation. They are not freed
from birth, aging and death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair;
they are not freed from suffering, I say.

"Any
recluses or priests who understand as they actually are the origin, the
disappearance, the gratification, the danger and the escape in the case of
these two views are without lust, without hate, without delusion, without
craving, without clinging, with vision, not given to favoring and opposing, and
they do not delight in and enjoy proliferation. They are freed from birth,
aging and death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair; they are
freed from suffering, I say.”

(Buddha, taken from the Cula-sihanada Sutta, Majjhima Nikaya 11, Tipitaka. Notes: although
addressed to Buddhist monks & talking about recluses and priests, the above
is applicable to anyone; being and non-being can also be translated as
existence and non-existence; the crucial point here is that clinging to views
is an obstacle to enlightenment, which involves the complete letting go of all
views or beliefs.)